Dentistry is less scientific and more gratuitous than people think (2019)

Post by 0des » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 4:27 AM UTC

tda wrote: post #32

misja111 wrote: post #21

Well it's only anecdotical of course, but I had a similar experience a couple of years ago that made me very confused about dentistry in general. At the time a had a small tooth ache so I was planning to visit a dentist to check it. I was living in Switzerland, where dentist costs are very high, but I was about to go on holiday to Tenerife, where prices are much lower. So I checked on the Internet and chose the denti…

Yep, sounds familiar. When I was a kid I broke one of my front teeth in half my dentist glued it back on saying it would probably not last too long but worth a try anyway. Many years later it broke off again. I didn't have dentist at the time (just moved) and did some shopping around (most had waiting lists). The first dentist said it was absolutely impossible to glue the bit back on, and offered to replace my tooth…

Post by alex_sf » Thu, Jun 23, 2022, 2:00 PM UTC

alistairSH wrote: post #202

alex_sf wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> curiously they had and still have extremely negative opinions of medical paraprofessionals like PAs and NPs This isn't entirely unfounded. There are real concerns over replacing MDs with mid-levels with much less training. The AMA is significantly to blame for the switch, but as a general rule I won't see PA/NPs for anything beyond prescription refills or something like that.

But that routine care is a good case for PAs/NPs. Pulling blood once and year and refilling my inhaler doesn’t require any speciality knowledge that only an MD would have. Most people shouldn’t have any reason to avoid one for their annual check or treating a run-of-the-mill illness.

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL » Fri, Jun 24, 2022, 4:41 AM UTC

cauliflower2718 wrote: post #210

ravenstine wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it just me or do dentists rarely if ever suggest that their adult patients change their diet to avoid dental caries? They probably still tell children "don't eat candy", but since I reached adulthood I don't think a dentist ever told me suggested that the reason I needed so many cavities drilled was because I was feeding bacteria in my mouth. If my experience is as ubiquitous as I suspect, there seems to be a perv…

A dentist once told me that it's worse for my teeth to sip a soda or a coffee slowly over several hours than to chug it all at once. I wonder if it was suggested because patients might actually do that, compared to not drinking soda or coffee at all. (I might drink coffee slightly faster than I used to. I do not drink soda. I'm fine with stains but not unnecessary tooth decay.)

Post by Fire-Dragon-DoL » Fri, Jun 24, 2022, 4:53 AM UTC

jaywalk wrote: post #214

diob wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I often wonder about this, because they made me remove mine due to "risk of infection". But afterwards I now get infections there if I get food stuck in the pocket left behind and can't get to a water pik soon enough.

Those pockets should have healed and closed up within a few days after surgery. It sounds like you had dry sockets that weren't properly dealt with.

Post by collyw » Fri, Jun 24, 2022, 2:21 PM UTC

bombcar wrote: post #256

systems_glitch wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think this was the only heathcare thing I ever fought with my mom over, in high school. Demanded we get a second opinion. The oral surgeon agreed that my teeth were fine. Still have them 20 years later, still no cavities. It just seemed nuts to me to remove something through surgery that wasn't causing problems. My favorite "reason" for why they should come out was, "you're more likely to bite your cheeks."

One of my wisdom teeth is laying sideways and I've been told I need to get rid of it for ... twenty years now and still haven't bothered, since the cost of getting rid of it now and when it starts to do whatever horrible thing it's plotting to do is basically the same, I continue to punt. My current dentist is ambivalent about it.